Hello,
I live in QLD and the house is about 3 years old, every time I switch on any of the ceiling fans on and change the speed of it, the TV signal starts and stops breaking/bricking on any of the TVs on the house.
So I wanted to what the best solution would be to stop this from happening? New Antenna, etc…
Cheers
Sounds like arcing in the fan controls is emitting radio waves causing induction in the antenna cabling.
Modernise the fan controls and/or upgrade to better shielded antenna cabling.
Like he said…
I live in QLD
Yeah it's a QLD thing. :) Internal or external antenna? If internal, get an external antenna, otherwise an electrician.
Grounding issue. Switch faulty.
Demolition the house to fix issue. Don't need electrician.
Hopefully this is not your solution to everything :)
That the he/she found a huntsman under the toilet seat was time consuming to remove.
I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.
Does it do it when the fan is on full speed? If not, its not the motor. Possibly the control circuit that chops up the mains to change the speed of the fan has no RFI filter on it and the interference is radiating back through your house wiring like a big antenna.
Its not something you can diagnose yourself, so I'd get an electrician in.
Wrap the cord running between the TV and the wall in aluminium foil. Do it so there's no breaks in the foil coverage
Post back with the result
You need to put your tongue on the wires to test if working
Welcome to digital television. Thank you Alston-Howard!
Analogue > Digital :)
Is this some hipster thing like listening C90 tapes for the sound quality?
Analogue isn't retro. It came about after the digital age.
I don't think anyone watches broadcast TV anymore. The advertising ruins the content you want to watch and there's ad free alternatives now.
And the resolution is so low.
Even the top of the line TVs can't upscale enough.
is your antenna amplified or powered in any way?
Try Quad shielded cable
Upgrade the cable all the way to the antenna, potentially might need a signal booster.
I’d call a few local antenna guys and sound them out about the problem, I’m sure it’s common.
Route your antenna cable from your wall outlet away from any 240V cables.
It probably is NOT a cable positioning problem.
You should see the "spilled spaghetti" cabling I have running, around… under and over, a combination of Antenna cables, plus power cables attached to TV, Computer, DVD, HD recorder, 2 Fans… plus, power-board extensions for lamps and USB charging station, and at odd times, things like Vacuum cleaner etc…
Mine is likely to be more of a fire risk, above any other probs.
Get a sparky in… DO NOT attempt a DIY fix on electrical stuff.
"Tingles" and electrical interferences should NOT happen. It is a sign of a possible deeper, darker, electrical problem, and you don't want to find out the hard way.
Again… DO NOT attempt a DIY fix, you only live ONCE.
It could be the fan itself as others have said or it could be the way the Antenna cabling has been run.
If its the fan -> get an Electrician
If its the cabling -> get a registered cabler to come and replace the cable. http://www.registeredcablers.com.au/find-cablers/ When you talk to whoever you get to do your work, I would suggest confirming that they have a "Coax" endorsement on their license. To install coaxial cable (ie Antenna cable), it has been mandatory since July 2014 to have Cabling license AND a coax endorsement (reference: https://www.acma.gov.au/Industry/Telco/Infrastructure/Cablin… )
Which to try first? A bit of a guess honestly but I would try looking at the fan initially…
It does happen to me when I use the hair dryer in the bathroom and only affects some digital channels. The cabling is fairly new but obviously dodgy electrician since I have asked him to connect the tv powerpoint straight to the box outside but it does not look like it
You don't need an electrician. It's nothing to worry about. But if you like wasting money for the sake of it, then yes call an electrician.
TV and fans should run off 2 different circuits TV on 20A GPO and fans should be on 10A light. To be sure turn of your light circuit and if your fans stop it's installed correct. As one poster said it could be bad EMF jamming the TV one way around it but a million to 1 shot is buy a ferrite for the TV power lead if you don't already have one.
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Clip-On-EMI-RFI-5mm-Filter-Snap-…
https://www.ebay.com.au/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_sacat=0&_nkw=f…
Agree with trying a ferrite donut or rod for power cord.
Cheaper fans will probably cause more interference.
Power circuits are rated 10A at the GPO.
You say that the problem only occurs at switch-on or speed change? And you have wall controls? If so, it is inevitable that there will be a bit of arcing within the switches at these "transitioning" times. That arcing will give off radio frequency signals which will also be radiated by the fan wiring. You need to make sure that the least amount of this RFI (radio frequency interference) gets to your TV. The three most practical things you can do are
1. Make sure your antenna is appropriate for your area. A few years ago a few of the channels were changed and now metro areas are generally VHF. If you are metro and have an antenna with a mix of VHF and UHF, you will be more susceptible to interference.
2. If you've got the right antenna and still have the problem, try replacing all the antenna cabling with better screened cable ( to reduce the RFI getting into the cable.).
3. As a last resort you could have your fans converted to remote control operation. These after -market kits are readily available and can be easily fitted by a qualified person. This would largely remove the source of the problem.
Easiest way is to stop using the fan.
I thought this is normal. I have always found it common that the newer fan capacitors cause this power flux pulse, interrupting the TV momentarilty. Be interesting if a solution is found that is cost effective. It may be someting to do with the RCD/RCBO safety switches used on the switchboard these days. These work by introducing a unique signal to a circuit which if interrupted causes the switch to trigger off.
RCDs actually work by detecting any differences between the current going out on a wire and the current coming back on the other leg of the circuit. A difference represents an abnormality and results in the RCD disconnecting the circuit. That abnormality could be a wiring or appliance fault, or it could be that a human being has become part of the circuit and hopefully the disconnection happens quickly enough to save the human from serious harm.
Before trying all those things, just rescan the channels on your TV. Worth a shot.
As per Ozb advice , get an electrician in. Period.